Last weekend I went up to cover tryouts for a new football league set to kick off this fall. The United Football League (UFL) was something I had honestly never even heard of until about a week prior to this shoot. Perhaps I had heard a year or so ago about a new league trying to begin but as with most sports fans I quickly dismissed it as something that was doomed to fail (like me taking a 10th grade algebra test). One of the cool aspects about the shoot I was looking forward to was that I would be shooting for the UFL so I was promised some good access for shooting. The hardest part of the shoot would be to not get drunk the night before on the strip!

I got to the stadium about an hour before the practice to get all situated and fire off a couple images of the empty Sam Boyd Stadium. The clouds were a nice touch.

Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, 500 ISO, f5.6, 1/8000th

A few minutes later the field was filled with players as they stretched out and got warmed up.

Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, 400ISO, F5.6, 1/3200th

Nikon D700, 70-200 mm, 400ISO, F5.6, 1/1250th

Nikon D700, 70-200 mm, 400ISO, F7.1, 1/800th

After about 30 minutes warming up on the field they headed into the locker room to await coaches instructions on what was next.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 1600ISO, F2.8, 1/200th

Below, quarterback Ken Dorsey (center) sits in the locker room as he waits to begin the first phase of the practice.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm, 1600ISO, F2.8, 1/250th

By position, the players walked through a hallway into a room to be weighed and measured by members of the coaching staff.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 1600ISO, F2.8, 1/160th

Below, a player stands on the scale as he is weighed by UFL coaching staff members.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 1600ISO, F2.8, 1/400th

Below, Keith Heinrich has his arm measured.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 1600ISO, F2.8, 1/1000th

Below, Mark Fenton is measured during the United Football League workout at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 1600iso, F2.8, 1/250th

Below, Through the empty hallway I set up for a shot of a player on the field with the dark hallway providing a decent frame, the only problem was there was nothing going on in that area of the field so it was a waste of time.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm, 800iso, F2.8, 1/8000th

Since I was shooting for the UFL I made sure to look for any shots that showed the new logo. When you are doing commercial stuff its all about branding.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 640iso, F5, 1/5000th

Below, I underexposed the shot by several stops to turn Joey Hollenbeck into a silhouette as he prepared to run the 20 yard dash during the United Football League workout at Sam Boyd Stadium. Anytime I can find ways to incorporate nice clouds in the backgrounds I always take advantage of it.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F6.3, 1/8000th

Perhaps the biggest things I like to stress to photographers is to try different angles from the norm. Go to a sporting event and about 90% of the photographers are standing up when they shoot while the other 10% are trying different angles and usually are rewarded with interesting shots for their efforts. Something as easy and simple as laying down on the ground for a shot can make a profound difference in what you end up with.

Standing up:

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/500th

Laying down:

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/1600th

Is the low angle amazing? Hardly. But you gotta admit it looks much more interesting than the lazy half assed standing shot.

In the below shot I used the two players in the foreground to frame the second pair of players as they did drills.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/2000th

A short while later as the sun got lower I underexposed by several stops to make a silhouette as two players practiced hitting.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/5000th

On the other side of the field the quarterbacks were doing passing drills so I headed over there to look for shots.

Below, Ken Dorsey throws a pass. Once again I got low to take advantage of the cleaner background as well as nice clouds.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/5000th

Below, I picked up the long glass and shot as Casey Bramlet throws a pass during the United Football League workout.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F5, 1/4000th

The linebackers were lined up doing running drills with some coaches so I got directly behind him to shoot head on as the players sprung forward. It was a great angle to see the players eyes and facial expressions.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm, 1250iso, F4.5, 1/1000th

Nikon D700, 70-200mm, 1250iso, F4.5, 1/1000th

One request from the UFL for the day was to get a nice shot of their logo on the game balls they will be using for the season. I started off with the standard shot of the ball on the field.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/1600th

Then I got the idea to hold the ball up with my left hand and lightly toss it up so I could get the ball essentially floating in the air above the stadium.

In the below shot you can see my wonderful throwing technique.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/2000th

And the resulting image.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/2000th

Below is another shot I kinda liked.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F4.5, 1/2000th

Below, I slowed the shutter speed way down to get some nice blur as Steven Korte ran the 40 yard dash.

Nikon D700, 24-70mm, 320iso, F10, 1/60th

In another area of the field the running backs were doing drills so I shot head on as the players ran towards me with the other players providing a nice background for me.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm, 1250iso, F5.6, 1/1250th

In the below shots I used a 400mm and shot as players were running drills. With the sun getting lower and the red grandstands glowing in the background it made for some nice shots.

Below, Cecil Sapp during a running drill.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F6.3, 1/6400th

Below, a ball flies over the head of Larry Croom as he does running drills.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F6.3, 1/8000th

In the below shot I noticed the shadow of Trey Brown on the wall behind him. It had the potential to be a nice photo but sadly all that he did was stand there before walking off.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F6.3, 1/3200th

After a few hours on the field level I decided to go up in the stands for a minute, first to do an overall shot of the stadium…

Nikon D700, 10.5-17mm, 800iso, F5, 1/2500th

…..then to see if there was any cool angles to take advantage of as wide receivers were catching passes.

Below, Tyson Thompson keeps his eyes on the ball as he makes a catch.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F5, 1/1600th

Below, A player I can’t name since I lost my roster makes a catch as his shadow runs alongside him.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F5, 1/1600th

I liked the below shot with some aerial acrobatics as Tyronne Gross made a spectacular one handed catch under pressure from Marviel Underwood.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 800iso, F5, 1/1000th

I headed back down to field level to shoot as the practice was winding down and there was some great light on the field.

Below I exposed for the bright background to make a silhouette as a quarterback made a throw downfield.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 1000iso, F6.3, 1/8000th

I noticed some nice light on the field with shadows in the background as receivers attempted to make catches under pressure from defenders.

A few stops underexposed worked perfectly to shoot Bennie Brazell (14) as he made a leaping catch under pressure from defender Trey Brown (2) during the United Football League workout at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Nikon D700, 400mm, 1000iso, F6.3, 1/8000th

Nikon D700, 400mm, 1000iso, F6.3, 1/8000th

Below, the day ended with all the players huddling up to listen to the coaches talk. I threw the fisheye on and did a hail mary right before they broke from the huddle and back to their lives as hopeful football players without jobs.

Nikon D700, 10.5-17mm, 500iso, F4.5, 1/400th

Heres some web clips:

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